Residents of a Sussex village say that teens terrorising their streets are slowly being brought to heel – but the area is still blighted by anti-social behaviour. People and businesses in Barnham, between Littlehampton and Bognor, say their village has been plagued by teenagers drinking, thieving and throwing eggs on the streets. Over the last year or so, they have been calling for change as they "became hostages to feral youths" and the area turned "lawless" .
With the school holidays having just passed, they say the problems continue to ebb and flow – but police are trying to keep a handle on it. Sussex Police officers were out in force in Barnham on Monday in a “day of action” – but businesses said arrests and criminal action had a limited effect on the problem. Mehdi Gholamzadeh runs two eateries near Barnham railway station, where the issues have been most harshly felt.
Read more: Barnham antisocial behaviour prompts police order in village Barnham business owner Mehdi Gholamzadeh (Image: The Argus) He told The Argus that while things had improved he still faces issues on a regular basis – even being forced to close his shop last year. He said: “I’ve been in the area for 11 years and it used to be really good. In the last 18 months it has been really bad with teenagers.
“They smash glass on the street. In one month I changed ten tyres on my car because of smashed glass. “They nick alcohol from Co-op and Tesco, drink it and smash the glasses.
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